The hosts started their pursuit soon after lunch when South Africa skipper Faf du Plessis finally declared at 540 for eight and a lead of 538, having all but batted Australia out of the contest. Khawaja reached the break on 16 not out with his captain Steve Smith at the other end unbeaten on 11. The highest successful fourth-innings run chase in test cricket was the 418-7 West Indies scored to beat Australia at Antigua in May 2003, while South Africa scored 414-4 to beat their hosts at the WACA in 2008. The Proteas will therefore be confident of taking a 1-0 lead in the three-match series with four sessions remaining over the last two days of the test. They will have to take all 10 Australian wickets without Steyn, however, after their pace spearhead was ruled out of the series by a shoulder injury on Friday.

Source: dna November 06, 2016 08:58 UTC